


Pirates in Training

by Blue_Sparkle



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family, Fluff, Genderfluid Nori, Holiday Gift Exchange, M/M, Pirates, The Original Characters are their children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 14:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13216041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: Dwalin is the captain of New Erebor's pirate ship Keeper, Nori is his first mate, and they teach their children a few things about how to be a pirate





	Pirates in Training

**Author's Note:**

> My gift for shakespeareaddict, who wanted pirate-y things or Nwalin with kids, which I combined because I couldn't resist that idea. Hope you enjoy, and a happy 2018!

The sea breeze brushed against Dwalin’s shorn head as he leaned over the rails, eyes trained far over the perfect turquoise of the Caribbean seas. He could make out some tiny islands pass by in the far south, but the Keeper was steady on her course and though he was curious to see what secrets they kept, he would not call for a change of direction. His crew had a schedule to keep after all. 

“How long till we reach our port?” he called over his shoulder, to where Bombur was keeping Bifur company at the helm. 

The portly cook usually took care of navigation when he wasn’t making sure that the Keeper’s small crew was well fed and healthy. Bombur glanced at the sails and past them at the position of the sun, then consulted his compass briefly before quietly speaking a reply. 

“About half a day? Before sunset for sure.”

Dwalin nodded, satisfied with the answer. As long as they arrived before nightfall it would be fine. He hadn’t seen Thorin in months, and it wouldn’t do to keep his King waiting when he called for his closest companions to return home. 

A loud bang of wood against wood followed by the clack of boots drew his attention to the rest of his ship. He looked down just in time to see as Nori emerged from below deck, looking around and squinting against the sun, his long fiery braid swinging against his back like a pendulum with the motions. 

Every day Dwalin saw Nori for the first time his heart clenched with renewed affection and gratitude for the chance to marry such a clever and beautiful man. All the hardships their people went through were worth it just for this. 

Once the people of the Erebor county had been regular law abiding men and women living on the mainland of the old world, ruled by their lord and prospering from fertile lands and rich mines. Dwalin barely remembered that time, and he hadn’t been there when lord Thrór had been betrayed and had been forced into exile with anyone who was loyal to him, barely escaping with his life. At the time Dwalin hadn’t been a grown man yet, travelling on his father’s merchant ship for the very first time, but in the following years his mother and brother had recounted the horrors of that time. 

It was Thráin, the son of Thrór, who had found the uninhabited island their people now claimed as their own, and Thráin, who had decided that the fleet they had used to escape might as well be used for some good. It was Thráin’s children who had managed to find a way for their people to prosper, taking in any who had been exiled and opening up fields and trade to sustain the island. But it was Thorin who had really managed to help their people prosper, who had asked for the blessing of his people to rule them in these harsh times, and Thorin who had turned half their fleet into what some called a pirate fleet after declaring himself King of the island New Erebor. New laws, a new country, a home for anyone who found their way to their island and freedom under the new crown. 

He had personally been the one to marry Nori and Dwalin, on the same week he had asked Dwalin to command his own ship. It had been the happiest Dwalin had ever been probably. And maybe he still could have married Nori if their people had moved to live in exile in some other country or even back in the old county of Erebor. But Nori wouldn’t have been able to live the way he wanted, he probably would have been unhappy on land, when all he knew now was the seas, and Dwalin would rather live in exile than see his love unhappy in any way. 

“Everything all right?” he called down to his husband and first mate. Nori’s head whipped around, looking up at him with a huff.

“Looking for a certain set of cabin kids,” Nori called up.

Dwalin raised his brows and looked around the ship as well, not spotting the two children in question. There were only three people on his ship who could be classified as children, though Morur, Bombur’s eldest, should be in the caboose right now. Usually they were easy to spot in his crew.

“Shouldn’t they be with you?” 

Nori shrugged, and looked up to the crow’s nest high above. He put his fingers to his mouth and let out a shrill sharp whistle. 

“Bofur!” He yelled, loud enough to get their outlook’s attention should he be asleep. He wasn’t, as proven by the hat that immediately peeked over the edge of the nest. 

“Yeah?”

“Have your sharp eyes spotted two children of mine shirking their duties below deck maybe?”

Bofur’s head appeared fully, looking down at the first mate with a grin that was easy to spot even at the distance. 

“Maybe?”

Before he could decide to spin some tale and give a longwinded non-answer two more heads appeared next to his, peeking down with two equally wide grins. The boy, Nordin, just eleven years old and with his hair a mess barely contained by a leather band, waved down, while the nine year old Lori by his side just sat still. 

As Nori pointedly put his fists against his hips both of them let out a sigh and started climbing down, Nordin swinging down the rigging with practiced ease while his sister did the same at a slower and steadier pace. Once they had reached their father they both stood at attention, giving him a sheepish look. 

“What were you doing up there anyway?” Nori asked with a huff, though Dwalin knew he was only playing at being strict. 

“Looking out,” Nordin replied smartly, to which Nori rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, you don’t say. What are you looking for that Bofur can’t spot without help?”

This time Lori was the one to speak as her brother couldn’t stop grinning. 

“We wanted to be the first to spot the Deathless.”

This was, as Dwalin knew, their dream. The Deathless was New Erebor’s flagship, and its captain was no other than Thorin himself, who his children regarded with some sort of silent hero worship that seemed out of place for a man who was essentially their uncle. While Nordin and Lori had both grown up on New Erebor’s main island, the Deathless had never been in the main port. It couldn’t at the time, when Thorin had kept her hidden and out of the way unless he needed her. And later Dwalin and Nori had spent some years with their main port away from their home. Despite Thorin’s presence in their life the children had still managed to adopt the attitude nearly every kid on New Erebor had regarding their King, and Dwalin had given up trying to make his best friend seem approachable ages ago. Sometimes he felt like his children just wanted to see their uncle that way for a sense of excitement and adventure. 

“You won’t see the Deathless until after we enter the port,” Nori chided them. “You know it’s hidden until you’re all the way up close.”

The children visibly deflated in their disappointment. They muttered their apologies to Nori for hiding, and made their way up to where Dwalin was once Nori shooed them away and disappeared below deck again. There Nordin let himself drop onto a pile of rope, and Lori stretched her arms up for Dwalin to pick her up and settle her on a barrel so she could watch the ship better. 

Dwalin ruffled their hair affectionately, careful not to mess with Lori’s hairbuns. She sometimes got as particular about her hair as her other father did, and even if her current style was simple she did try out as many ways to braid it as possible. 

Dwalin took the moment of both of them being still to admire his children quietly. Nordin reminded him of his own father, who had fallen years before Dwalin had even began courting Nori. He had sharp features, which were still softened by his young age, and earnest blue eyes along with wiry messy hair that never lent itself to being tamed properly. Despite his age he was already starting to show hints of one day inheriting his taller father’s solid built, with muscles from helping out on the Keeper broadening his shoulders. 

Lori was slighter, reminding Dwalin of Nori but also his own mother. She was clever, though he didn’t know if she would develop the stately dignity of her uncle Balin, or the razor sharp wit of her father. The time spent on the ship and out of the shade had given her a complexion darker than her brother’s, and much closer to Dwalin’s own skin, which he felt only served to bring out the beautiful red shades in her dark brown hair. He knew that any parent would claim their child to be the cleverest and most beautiful, but Dwalin was sure that he at least was right in his assessment of his children.

After a while Nori reappeared on deck, carrying one of his pistols that Dwalin recognized as one of the good ones, but not one of the favourite set. Once he caught his daughter’s attention Nori waved her down, raising a net of coconuts he’d taken from the supply room. They were probably empty, and a favourite of his to shoot at when there was nothing better to do. Lori hopped down from the barrel by herself to run to him immediately, while Nordin relaxed further. He’d already gone through those lessons, earning him a “can’t teach you more, you just got to practice now” some years ago. 

Dwalin watched as Lori helped set up the coconuts on the rail as Nori loaded the gun and handed it to her once she was done. It was a good thing that she had somebody to teach her, Dwalin had to learn the use of a gun and rifle all by himself in the middle of battle. He was glad that his children could learn the easy way, with a teacher and no pressure, though neither he nor Nori were traditional teachers at all.

Nori had a hand on Lori’s back as she aimed for the empty coconut husks stacked on top of the rail. Her little hand was holding her dad’s pistol steadily, though it was a little big in her grasp. Dwalin watched Nori lean down and whisper some advice into their daughter’s ear, until Lori finally pulled the trigger and one of the coconuts went flying off into the water with a loud crack. 

Dwalin couldn’t hear what Nori was saying, but Lori preened at her success, and as Bofur was still cheering her on from above, Nori took the pistol away to start demonstrating how to reload the thing properly. 

“Dad, do you think I could be a great pirate one day?”

Dwalin glanced down at Nordin, who had gotten up by now and was keeping his eyes trained on the horizon ahead, sounding strangely serious. 

“Why do you want to be that? You’d be a privateer if you serve in Thorin’s fleet.”

Nordin pulled a face. 

“Same thing, dad. I just want to be like you, I want to serve my island like you do and have my own ship and have adventures to-“

He cut himself off and glanced up at his father sheepishly. 

“Do you think I could do that?”

Dwalin looked over to the horizon where New Erebor would appear soon enough. He wasn’t sure what to tell Nordin about this that wouldn’t sound like the empty praise of a father who couldn’t not be proud of his children. Nordin was at an age where he wanted more than just his parents’ unconditional praise, he wanted real advice. 

“You have all the right conditions to be a good captain,” Dwalin said instead, wishing that he knew how to best express himself and that he had a better way with words. “But you have to learn, like with anything else.”

Dwalin walked over to where Bifur was holding his position at the helm, waving him away. 

“Take a break,” he told the mute old sailor, and Bifur inclined his head in gratitude before letting Dwalin take over.

For a few seconds Dwalin just stood there, feeling the warm wood under his hands and the strength of the sea and wind pull at the ship, breathing in. Then he turned back to his son with a grin. 

“Do you want to steer Keeper for a while?”

Nordin’s eyes widened and he bounced to Dwalin’s side immediately, his fingers twitching for the helm. 

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. How else are you to learn? I’ll be there to help if you need me to.”

Nordin slipped under Dwalin’s arm to stand between his father and the wheel. His hands reached for it near reverently, grasping it tight where Dwalin left some room for him to do so. As soon as Dwalin was sure his son’s grip was secure he let go carefully. For a few seconds Nordin struggled as he adjusted his hold and strength to keep the helm in its position, and then he was steering all by himself. 

Dwalin heard Nordin gasp, before checking to make sure that Dwalin wasn’t secretly holding on after all. 

“I’m doing it!” he shouted, getting him the attention of everyone 

“Congratulations, future captain, your first control of a ship.”

Cheers erupted from the crew, which wasn’t particularly big anyway, but Dwalin could see how his son was beaming with pride anyway. He only let go from the wheel with one hand for long enough to wave at Nori and Lori, before standing up straighter. 

“Good, so tell me what you think you need to do next.”

Dwalin remained by Nordin’s side, letting his son take over the ship for the remainder of their journey. Occasionally he would ask Nordin what he thought he had to do, confirming or correcting but letting him remain at the helm. Nordin didn’t lose his enthusiasm even a little as the sun crawled towards the sea slowly, until it was late afternoon and New Erebor appeared in the distance. 

When the island was right in front of them, and Dwalin could see the spit of land that hid the entrance to the harbour, Nordin started to fidget. 

“Can I go look out for the Deathless?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder at Dwalin with a pleading expression. 

“Of course, you did a lot already. Docking is a lesson for another day.”

The second Dwalin’s hands touched the wheel Nordin slipped away and ran to the bow, where Lori had already positioned herself at the rail. The children were practically bouncing with excitement, which made Dwalin bite back a laugh. 

“To think that Keeper isn’t good enough for them.”

Nori slid close to Dwalin’s side, their shoulders bumping together as they watched their children whisper something to each other.

Dwalin laughed at the comment. 

“Keeper is a fine ship, yes. But they grew up on her, of course they’d get excited to finally see our King’s ship.”

Nori was quiet as Dwalin barked orders, forgoing his usual task of relaying commands as Dwalin did enjoy that part sometimes. They navigated Keeper around the cliff, ready to move back home into the long stretch of natural harbour that contained New Erebor’s ships. 

“Home sweet home,” Nori said when they slowly edged past the cliff. 

The gasp let out by Nordin and Lori was impressively loud, heard all the way back on the helm. 

Dwalin admittedly understood why they reacted that way. 

There, proudly sitting at the docks, was the Deathless, towering high above them, dwarfing the ships surrounding her and even the buildings that sat right at the water’s edge. She was built for speed and strength, big enough to make even Spanish galleys consider whether they wanted to mess with her carefully. Her sails were all wrapped up now, but even so one could spot the beautiful blue they had been dyed in, along with hints of the white lines that were painted on them. 

As they passed her towards the more shallow part of the harbour the gorgeous white and silver decorations along the hull became visible, depicting old legends of their people, and the figure head, a larger than life carving of the hero of old, Durin, looked down on them sternly. Even through the amazement Dwalin always felt at the beautiful craftwork, he figured that Balin would have a much easier time making the children learn their history if he could point out the corresponding decoration on this ship. It was weirdly amusing to him.

Nori’s arm wrapped around Dwalin’s waist as he pulled himself flush against his husband, purring happily. 

“Welcome home,” Dwalin said as he pressed a kiss to Nori’s head quickly before returning his attention to safely steering Keeper towards the docks. Below Nordin and Lori were chattering excitedly, and Nori’s arms squeezed a little tighter. 

They were home.


End file.
